A Companion To The Doctor’s Companions: Donna Noble | Anglophenia | BBC America A Companion To The Doctor’s Companions: Donna Noble By Fraser McAlpine | 5 years ago The Doctor and Donna Once you’ve had your horizons dramatically shifted, you’ll always come back different. Every one of the Doctor’s former companions knows this. They’ve seen things that the majority of their fellow humans don’t believe in. They’ve taken part in enormously significant events, but can’t ever really talk about it, because no one will believe them. They’re heroes and heroines, saviors of whole civilizations, but not on their home planet. No one embodies this contradiction better than Donna Noble. When it was first announced that Catherine Tate would become the Tenth Doctor’s next assistant after Martha Jones, people were concerned. Catherine was best known as a sketch comedienne, had already made a huge name for herself in the UK, to such a extent that she had managed to convince the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to appear in a sketch with her. Doctor Who has a thick seam of comedy running through it, always has had, but alarm bells were ringing.

The show had only been back a few years, by bringing in a comedy performer with their own cultural baggage, could things tip over into panto territory? Was the show in danger of falling back into its bad old self-referential wink-wink “let’s put this in for the fans” ways? Thankfully not. After two companions who clearly fancied the pants off of the handsome Tennenth Doctor (pun intended), Donna is the bucket of ice-water in his cocky face. There would be no “reversing the polarity of the neutron flow” with Donna Noble around, she’d be far more likely to look blankly at the Doctor and insist he just gets ON with it. And Donna wasn’t just there to act as a latter-day Tegan. The insane cockiness of the Tenth Doctor needed tempering. After Martha had been transformed from a trainee doctor to a soldier, and her family traumatised by the Master, he needed someone who could help him take stock of where he’d been and the rules he chose to live by. Donna’s role in the Doctor’s life was similar to that of an elder sister, looking after a child prodigy.

Yes he can do stuff that she can’t do, but she ping-pongs between knowing this is astonishing and being appalled by what it all means. And she’s not shy of telling him either. Here’s her first scene, another of the Tenth Doctor’s great “what? What? WHAT?” cliff-hangers: <noscript><iframe width="500" height="375" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></noscript> And here’s the Doctor trying to cheer Donna up by bringing her into his world a bit: <noscript><iframe width="500" height="281" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></noscript> And here’s a selection of Donna moments, funny and sad, sharp and soft. There are points during this selection when you could’ve renamed the show Donna Who and no one would’ve minded: <noscript><iframe width="500" height="375" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></noscript> And when the comedy does come, it’s not silly or self-congratulatory, it comes from the fact that Donna is a right madam (and so is the Doctor).

That familial bickering has been there throughout, which can cause some confusion: <noscript><iframe width="500" height="375" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></noscript> And here’s Donna knowingly doing what every elder sister would do – the right thing – and trying not to get bitter about having to be the one to do it. <noscript><iframe width="500" height="281" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></noscript> Oh and let’s have another look at her goodbye, shall we? Coming hard on the heels of the Doctor’s final farewell to Rose, it’s every bit as sad, but somehow crueller. Having saved the day, she gets no compensatory human Doctor to cuddle up to, no fond memories to look back on. She gave everything and got nothing back in return. Her horizons changed, and were then artificially put back again. <noscript><iframe width="500" height="375" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></noscript> Tell you what, if she could remember what had happened to her, he’d be getting the telling-off of ALL.

TIME, winning lottery ticket or no winning lottery ticket. Donna Noble played by Catherine Tate, 2008 | Doctor Who: the 10 best companions - TV TV Previous slide Next slide 5 of 10 View All Skip Ad Donna Noble played by Catherine Tate, 2008 Donna surmounted her all-too evident limitations, as shown in The Runaway Bride, and matured from self-absorbed irritant to a mature woman who was able to show great compassion and keep the Tenth Doctor in much-needed check at times during her sojourn in the TARDIS. Catherine Tate gave a fine performance of some depth as Donna, and it was generally tragic for the character that her memory of that time had to be wiped. Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) - Quotes & Bio | Doctor Who Friend Will you be friends with this companion?147Friends Catherine Tate A temp from West London, Donna found herself transported aboard the TARDIS as she was walking down the aisle on her wedding day. Fortunately, the Doctor saved her from marrying Lance – who’d made a deal with the Empress of the Racnoss.

Despite turning down the Doctor’s offer to travel with him, she began investigating possible alien incursions, in the hope she’d meet him again. When they were reunited at Adipose Industries, she took up the offer to travel in the TARDIS - visiting Pompeii, meeting Agatha Christie and helping thwart the Sontarans. When the Doctor was exterminated by a Dalek and began regenerating he funneled the energy into his spare hand. When Donna touched this, it provoked a ‘metacrisis’, where she acquired all of the Doctor’s knowledge. Although this was essential in stopping Davros, it started to destroy Donna’s body. The Doctor was forced to wipe her mind and return her to Sylvia and Wilf. He later bought Donna and new husband Shaun a winning lottery ticket. Doctors Donna Noble | Tardis | Fandom powered by Wikia She once attended her friend Ginny 's wedding , and was thrown out of the church by a monk . ( PROSE : Most Beautiful Music ) Donna's career consisted mainly of temp jobs. She worked at Hounslow Library for a while, ( TV : The Doctor's Daughter ) and for two years at a double-glazing firm sometime before June 2007 .

( TV : The Runaway Bride ) She missed the Christmas Day Sycorax invasion of Earth due to a hangover and the Cybermen invasion because she was scuba diving in Spain . ( TV : The Runaway Bride ) As a result, she was unprepared for the existence of alien life when she first encountered it. In June 2007, Donna had the choice of being a full-time secretary for Jival Chowdry or a temporary secretary at H.C. Clements , a security firm in London . Although she considered the former at her mother's insistence, an accident blocked the traffic in the direction of Jival Chowdry, so instead of waiting in a traffic jam and turning right on Little Sutton Street towards Griffin's Parade , she chose the temporary position at H.C. Clements by turning left, heading for the Chiswick High Road . At the time it was unknown to Donna that the accident was caused by a future version of herself from a parallel world . ( TV : Turn Left ) At Clements, she gradually fell in love with Lance Bennett , whom she pressured into marriage .

She planned the wedding , unaware that Lance was dosing her coffee with Huon particles by order of the Empress of the Racnoss , whom he secretly served. ( TV : The Runaway Bride ) Meeting the Doctor Donna's first look at space. ( TV : The Runaway Bride ) At her wedding on Christmas Eve 2007 , while she was walking down the aisle with her father , Huon particles reacted with her elevated emotional state and teleported Donna into the Doctor's TARDIS . Robot Santas prevented the Doctor returning her in time for her wedding, but he got her there for the reception; when she found the wedding party and guests had started without her, she was furious. Some of the guests, such as Sylvia, assumed Donna had played a practical joke on them and started having a go at her for it; they quickly quietened down when Donna pretended to burst into tears, before joining the party. When a robotic Christmas tree fired explosives at the wedding guests, Donna and the Doctor investigated H.C. Clements. The trail led to an abandoned secret Torchwood base under the Thames where Lance and the Empress of the Racnoss revealed their plans.

Donna was heartbroken after learning Lance had been toying with her feelings up to this point, especially when he outright called her stupid and felt he deserved a medal for putting up with her for that long; she still pitied his death when the Empress betrayed him and fed Lance to her children. Donna helped the Doctor defeat the Empress and pulled him away from the Empress' death, saving his life. However, she turned down his offer to travel with him, frightened by what he had done and could do (such as making the TARDIS trigger snow). ( TV : The Runaway Bride ) Joining the Doctor Edit As a result of her encounter with the Doctor, Donna's eyes were opened to the universe, and she could not resume her old life. Also following this encounter, Donna's father, Geoff Noble , died and Wilfred Mott , her grandfather on her mother's side, moved in with them. Donna tried to live without the Doctor. She went to Egypt for two weeks on holiday looking for some excitement. When this failed, she began investigating unexplained events, knowing the Doctor always ran into trouble and hoping that she would be able to encounter the Doctor again.

She also took a thermos of coffee up to her grandfather when he was looking at the stars. Donna discovers that the Tenth Doctor parked the TARDIS right next to her car. ( TV : Partners in Crime ) In 2009 , she began looking into Adipose Industries ; whilst spying on Miss Foster, the head of Adipose Industries, she suddenly saw the Doctor also spying on her from the outside window, who was as surprised as she was when he saw her. Together they stopped the birthing of the Adipose from fatally converting human tissue into Adipose young, and witnessed the March of the Adipose . The Doctor once again invited her to travel with him, Donna remarking that she must've been mad to turn him down the first time. Unlike most companions of the Doctor, she was well prepared for the trip having packed several suitcases (including a hat box in case they went to the " Planet of the Hats "). The Doctor was reluctant at first, but agreed after Donna assured him that she, unlike his two previous companions, harbored no romantic feelings for him.

Just before she left, whilst trying to find a suitable place to leave her car keys, she approached a blonde woman standing at a police line; it was Rose Tyler , who had briefly returned from the parallel universe in which she was trapped. Once on board the TARDIS, Donna had the Doctor fly it to where her grandfather could see them through his telescope and wave him goodbye. ( TV : Partners in Crime ) Curiously, Donna's car was parked right by the Doctor's TARDIS ; Donna picked up on this, calling it destiny. Neither of them knew at the time that this had happened due to the manipulation of the timelines at the hands of Dalek Caan . ( TV : Journey's End ) Travels with the Doctor The Doctor and Donna arrive in Pompeii. ( TV : The Fires of Pompeii ) After leaving home, Donna and the Doctor went to Pompeii on the day Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. She tried to convince him to stop the eruption, but he called it impossible stating that it was a fixed point in time .

She and the Doctor were ultimately responsible for the eruption; a group of Pyroviles , who had escaped from their planet before it was lost, planned to convert every human on the planet into Pyroviles, creating a new homeworld for themselves. The Doctor told Donna it was either Pompeii or the world; she took some of the burden off of him by helping him cause the eruption, which killed the Pyroviles. The Doctor left for the TARDIS, ignoring the pleas and chaos all around him; however, Donna convinced him to save one family from the devastation who subsequently worshiped the Doctor and Donna as household gods. ( TV : The Fires of Pompeii ) During this encounter, Lucius Petrus Dextrus , who was one of those who had gained psychic abilities due to inhaling Pyrovile dust, told her there was something on her back; she was unaware at the time that he was referring to the Time Beetle that would later create a parallel world around her where she never met the Doctor. ( TV : Turn Left ) The Doctor and Donna find an injured Ood.

( TV : Planet of the Ood ) After that, Donna and the Doctor travelled to the Ood Sphere in 4126 and discovered the Ood's servitude was caused by removal of the Ood's forebrain and the "third element", the controlling Ood Brain , being blocked. They together unblocked the Ood Brain, ending the chaos between the Ood and humans running the Sphere. The suffering that the Ood went through combined with witnessing Klineman Halpen get turned into an Ood was too much for Donna, who said she wanted to go home; she later calmed down and took this statement back, however. When they parted, Ood Sigma referred to Donna as DoctorDonna . Neither the Doctor nor Donna realised the significance of the statement at the time. ( TV : Planet of the Ood ) Donna tries to get a bit of hush between the Ice Warriors and the Draconians . ( COMIC : Cold Blooded War! ) Next, The Doctor and Donna were called to Earth by the Doctor's former companion Martha Jones , who now worked for UNIT ; Martha and Donna quickly became friends, the former warning the latter of the dangers that occurred when being near the Doctor.

While Doctor investigated ATMOS , Donna went home to see her family. She was terrified when her grandfather almost died from the Sontarans ' Caesofine gas emitted by ATMOS. When the TARDIS was taken by the Sontarans with Donna still on board, Donna activated the teleporters to allow the Doctor to bring it back to Earth. She later scolded the Doctor for scaring her by nearly getting himself killed when offering the Sontarans the chance to leave Earth alive. She agreed with her grandfather that her mother Sylvia should not know about her travels in the TARDIS. ( TV : The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky ) The TARDIS was pulled off course, with Martha Jones inside, to the planet Messaline in 6012 . The Doctor had his DNA synthesised and grown into a full-sized clone. Donna dubbed the "daughter" that resulted from the synthesisation Jenny (as the Doctor had called her a "generated anomaly"). Donna was the first to realise that the war going on between the humans and the Hath had only been going on for a week.

She witnessed the end of hostilities between humans and Hath when the Doctor opened the terraforming device ( the Source ) inside the Temple . She also watched General Cobb shoot Jenny when he refused to lay down arms, which led to her apparent death. Donna left Messaline with Martha and the Doctor, believing Jenny had perished. They soon after drop Martha back off on Earth before continuing their travels. ( TV : The Doctor's Daughter ) Donna meets Agatha Christie. ( TV : The Unicorn and the Wasp ) Donna met Agatha Christie in 1926 and killed a Vespiform by throwing the Firestone into a lake to save Agatha's life. During this adventure, she influenced the creation of Miss Marple and Murder on the Orient Express by mentioning them to Christie years before they were created; although Christie's memories of the incident were wiped, some unconscious memories remained. Donna muttered that she should have gotten Christie to sign a contract when she had the chance (so they could split the copyright). She also comforted Agatha when she stopped believing in herself and over her marital problems, recounting some of the events that happened between her and Lance.

( TV : The Unicorn and the Wasp ) Edit Donna and the Doctor rushed to Earth in 2009, only to find it taken from underneath them. They then went to the Shadow Proclamation for help. They traced the Earth, along with twenty-six other missing planets , to the Medusa Cascade , where the planets had been hidden by being placed one second out of sync with the rest of the universe. As the Doctor reunited with Rose, he was shot by a Dalek and rushed into the TARDIS with Rose, Jack and Donna. As a result, the Doctor began regenerating but was able to use some of the regeneration energy to heal himself before funnelling the remaining energy into a matching bio-receptacle — his spare hand — and stop the regeneration. ( TV : The Stolen Earth ) Donna touches the Doctor's hand. ( TV : Journey's End ) The TARDIS was taken on board the Crucible and its defences were taken down. Donna was separated from the Doctor when the TARDIS refused to let her leave when the others surrendered to the Daleks . Donna reached out toward the Doctor's hand when the TARDIS was being sent to the core of the Crucible to be destroyed.

The regeneration energy stored in the Doctor's hand interacted with Donna and created a being who looked like the Doctor, but was half human and had aspects of Donna's personality. When Donna tried to use the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor 's Z-Neutrino Biological Inversion Catalyser on the Daleks, Davros electrocuted her. The electrical shock on Donna stimulated her brain, awakened the Time Lord DNA that transferred to her during the two-way biological meta-crisis , and gave her "the best part of the Doctor — his mind," rendering her the "DoctorDonna" of the Ood 's prophecy. The DoctorDonna is "born" after touching the Doctor's spare hand. ( TV : Journey's End ) She used her new-found intellect to deactivate the reality bomb and disable the circuitry on the Daleks' controls, and helped use the magnetron to bring twenty-six of the planets back to their rightful places in the universe. The Meta-Crisis Doctor, fulfilling one of Dalek Caan 's prophecies, destroyed the Daleks. When the Supreme Dalek wrecked the magnetron, Earth was the last planet still in the Cascade.

Donna helped the Doctor and his companions to "tow" the Earth to its proper place in the galaxy with the TARDIS. After assisting the Doctor in exiling the Meta-Crisis Doctor to Pete's World and saying farewell to Rose, Donna's mind overloaded, a consequence of the unbearable Time Lord-human meta-crisis. Donna now had a second mind in the form of the Doctor's knowledge and some of his personality aspects, which started to encroach on her original mind and overwhelm it. To save her life, the Doctor was forced to erase her memories against her wishes and bring her home, which suppressed her "DoctorDonna" alter ego. ( TV : Journey's End ) Back to Earth Donna and Shaun Temple . ( TV : The End of Time ) The Doctor took Donna home, with strict instructions to her mother and grandfather never to tell her about the TARDIS or him. The Donna who had saved the universe was dead, fulfilling another of Dalek Caan's prophecies. Donna was left to her "normal" life.

Wilfred, her grandfather, promised to keep thinking of the Doctor on her behalf, and never to mention the Doctor to her as that might trigger her memory of events and cause her mind to "burn up", killing her. ( TV : Journey's End ) By Christmas 2009 , Donna had got her life back on track; she was engaged to Shaun Temple . According to her grandfather though, she and Shaun had some financial issues as neither had good jobs. She nearly bumped into the Doctor twice, once while Christmas shopping during which she angrily warned a nearby traffic warden to leave her car alone. For Christmas, she gave Wilf a book by Joshua Naismith , but did not know exactly why, saying that she simply felt like he should have it. The Doctor surmised it was her Time Lord subconscious directing Wilf, since he was so important. Donna is chased by the Master Race . ( TV : The End of Time ) On Christmas Day, the Master turned every human into versions of himself. Donna's half-Time Lord mind caused her not to transform, but her mother and Shaun were. The shock of seeing them transformed into duplicates of the Master reawakened some of the memories of her travels with the Doctor.

Visions of aliens she had met appeared in her mind. She called Wilf and was told to run for her life. She ran, but was cornered by Master duplicates in an alley, and was beginning to break down over the rush of recovered memories. However, the Doctor had also implanted a form of mental self-defence in her mind that released a blast of energy, putting Donna to sleep and knocking the Master facsimiles unconscious. The newly married Donna Temple-Noble. ( TV : The End of Time ) While Gallifrey appeared in the sky hurtling towards Earth, Shaun found her unconscious and brought her home. She came to when the TARDIS appeared in the street and complained that she had, yet again, missed something important. Sylvia was just amused when Donna said that as she knew Donna to be safe. Donna's memories of the Doctor apparently never returned. In spring 2010 , she and Shaun were married and left the church with family and friends cheering them on. Donna asked for a photograph of her friends and her, allowing her mother and grandfather to speak with the Doctor one last time.

They returned and gave Donna an envelope holding a gift from her deceased father and the Doctor, a lottery ticket the Doctor bought with money borrowed from her father. Although she considered it to be a cheap present, she remembered that the next lottery draw had a triple roll-over prize before stuffing it in her dress for safekeeping; both Sylvia and Wilf knew that the Doctor had made sure it was a winning ticket and thus secured Donna's financial future. ( TV : The End of Time ) In a meeting between companions of the Doctor organised by Alice Obiefune , Donna walked in. However, as she could not remember the Doctor she realised she was in the wrong room and went on her way. ( COMIC : The Meeting ) Legacy Edit When the Doctor discovered what the Manus Maleficus was capable of doing, he was momentarily tempted to use it to save Donna from burning up without wiping her memories. ( COMIC : The Crimson Hand ) The Doctor still felt guilty over what travelling with him had done to Donna, feeling that he had "screwed up" her life; these feelings persisted into his next incarnation . ( TV : Let's Kill Hitler ) At some point, he also told River Song about Donna and what happened to her.

When River eventually encountered the Tenth Doctor and Donna, she was visibly moved when she realised who Donna was. ( TV : Silence in the Library ) Undated adventures Edit At some point, Donna was taken to the Black Archive by UNIT to have her record as a companion of the Doctor taken. Her memories of the visit were subsequently erased and she was sent on her way. ( TV : The Day of the Doctor ) Parallel world Edit In a parallel world in June 2007, Donna decided to work for Chowdry instead of H.C. Clements by turning right on Little Sutton Street towards Griffin's Parade . She was promoted to his personal assistant that December, when she saw the Racnoss Webstar attack central London. There, she saw the deceased Tenth Doctor carried away by UNIT troops and a blonde woman, Rose Tyler, arrive, apparently by mistake. Over the next two years Donna met Rose at several alien encounters which the Doctor would have prevented, had he not died in 2007. After Mr Chowdry laid off Donna, she won a trip to Firbourne House on a raffle ticket she found with the office supplies she had taken.

While there, over Christmas 2008, the Titanic crashed into London, destroying it. Donna's family was relocated to Leeds . Alternate Donna dies. ( TV : Turn Left ) Rose knew she needed Donna as well as the Doctor to stop the stars from going out throughout the multiverse as timelines had been converging on Donna since her birth. In 2009, Donna agreed to be sent back to June 2007 in a jury-rigged time machine ; her task was to prevent her younger self from turning right on Little Sutton Street and taking the fatal job with Chowdry, instead getting a job at H.C. Clements by turning left towards the Chiswwick High Road . Unable to get there in time, the alternate Donna Noble threw herself in front of a lorry to cause a traffic jam that would physically prevent her younger self from making that decision. Just before her death, Rose appeared to Donna and gave her a message for the Doctor. Donna retained dreamlike memories of the world, including the blonde woman and her message to the Doctor: " Bad Wolf ". ( TV : Turn Left ) Career Edit Donna worked as a temp secretary in several places, including H.C.

Clements and a double glazing firm. ( TV : The Runaway Bride , The Sontaran Stratagem ) She worked for health and safety for two days and kept the ID card. ( TV : Partners in Crime ) At some point she worked for six months at Hounslow Library , where she learned the Dewey Decimal System in two days. ( TV : The Doctor's Daughter ) Personality Edit Donna's first encounter with the Doctor was bewildering for both: the Doctor was shocked into speechlessness by her sudden appearance in his TARDIS; Donna was furious with him for "kidnapping" her and twice slapped him in the face when he was overexcited in the face of her missed wedding and imminent danger or death. ( TV : Doomsday , The Runaway Bride ) Though Donna's sharp tongue and hair-trigger temper kept the Doctor at arm's length for most of their first adventure, quieter moments showed a more level-headed and perceptive woman.

( TV : The Runaway Bride ) Although she sometimes appeared unintelligent and persistently referred to herself as "only a temp", the Doctor responded on one occasion by calling her "brilliant" ( TV : Turn Left ) and she was actually quite smart; she mastered the Dewey Decimal System in two days of work at a library ( TV : The Doctor's Daughter ) and remarked that she could walk around an office blind-folded, quickly picking up on an important clue others might've missed in that no one ever gets sick or has days off at an ATMOS factory raided by UNIT , impressing Martha Jones . ( TV : The Sontaran Stratagem ) When she joined the Doctor in his journeys, her quick and sometimes dry wit often came out, syncing with his own. ( TV : Partners in Crime et al.) Donna's fiery temper hid a deep well of compassion. She reached out to Agatha Christie , trying to share her own story of failed marriage. ( TV : The Unicorn and the Wasp ) She helped free the Ood from mass slavery.

( TV : Planet of the Ood ) When the Doctor was forced to make the terrible choice of destroying Pompeii to save the world, something Donna had tried and failed to get him to stop as it was a fixed point in time , Donna took some of the burden on herself by helping him push the lever to trigger the eruption of Mount Vesuvius . ( TV : The Fires of Pompeii ) Though most companions were, to some degree, the Doctor's conscience, Donna adopted this role more openly and forcefully than her predecessors. She pleaded with the Doctor to save the inhabitants of Pompeii — if not all of them, then a single family — and got her way with Caecilius ' family. ( TV : The Fires of Pompeii ) Donna insisted that the Doctor acknowledge Jenny as his daughter, no matter how she was created or what job she was trained for. ( TV : The Doctor's Daughter ) Likewise, travelling with the Doctor made Donna a better person. He tempered her sharp tongue and brought out a more clever, compassionate aspect of her personality. She acknowledged that in the past, she had been selfish, always putting herself first.

Travelling with the Doctor changed that: she started looking out for others, automatically helping where she might not have before. In some instances, she became almost motherly towards the Doctor, telling him to take care, reprimanding him when his actions were found wanting, automatically fixing his tie, etc. He even once stated that "she [Donna] takes care of me!" ( PROSE : Beautiful Chaos , TV : The Fires of Pompeii , The Doctor's Daughter , The Sontaran Stratagem ) Donna meets Martha . ( TV : The Sontaran Stratagem ) When the Doctor's former companion, Martha Jones , recalled the Doctor to Earth, she and Donna became fast friends; neither was jealous of one another, and both were willing to share experiences. The Doctor found this disconcerting. ( TV : The Sontaran Stratagem ) Her relationship with Rose Tyler was initially abrasive in the parallel world ( TV : Turn Left ) but friendly in the Doctor's world . She also enjoyed an attraction to Captain Jack Harkness , which at one point involved her pushing Sarah Jane Smith out of the way to get a hug from him.

( TV : Journey's End ) Unlike Rose and Martha, Donna was intent on maintaining a platonic relationship with the Doctor, reacting with disgust when she misinterpreted his comment, "I just want a mate", (friend) as, "I just want to mate", (breed). ( TV : Partners in Crime ) Both the Doctor and Donna also corrected many people who thought they were married, saying things like, "We're so not married. Never". ( TV : The Fires of Pompeii , Planet of the Ood , The Doctor's Daughter , The Unicorn and the Wasp ) She did kiss him, but only to give him a shock as part of his cure for cyanide poisoning. ( TV : The Unicorn and the Wasp ) She was very supportive of the Doctor, at one point forcing him to admit that despite the potential collapse of universes, Rose's return was still a good thing. ( TV : The Stolen Earth ) She also supported the Doctor when the time came to leave the Meta-Crisis Doctor and Rose behind on Pete's World . Dalek Caan referred to Donna as "the most faithful companion".

Just before her memories were wiped, she tearfully echoed Rose's earlier desire to travel with the Doctor "forever". ( TV : Journey's End ) The Doctor reciprocated Donna's feelings, referring to her as his best friend. ( TV : The End of Time ) The Meta-Crisis Doctor, working from his original template's memories, recognised that Donna's brash attitude arose from her belief that she was unimportant; she was "[s]houting at the world, 'cause [she thought] no one's listening." The original Doctor attributed this to her mother never telling Donna she was important to her, and told Sylvia to tell her that more often. ( TV : Journey's End ) Behind the scenes Edit The name Donna Noble was not revealed to the public until promotional material began to circulate for The Runaway Bride. In the closing credits of Doomsday, the character is only identified as "The Bride". Originally the new companion for Series 4 was meant to be a completely new character, and showrunner Russell T Davies had begun thinking of a Donna-like character called Penny Carter .

After Catherine Tate indicated that not only had she had a great time filming The Runaway Bride, but was interested in doing a full series, Donna was brought back as a series regular. Penny Carter was later rewritten as a minor role in Partners in Crime. A deleted scene from Journey's End included in the Series 4 DVD box set showed Donna, after her mind-wipe, reacting with recognition to the sound of the departing TARDIS, but dismissing it. This scene was removed to avoid creating a discontinuity; if Donna remembered anything about the Doctor or her travels with him, her mind would burn up. Due to timing and her short tenure on the series, Donna appears in only two comic strip stories published in Doctor Who Magazine , and two Doctor Who comics by IDW Publishing . Russell T Davies has stated that he sees Donna as how the First Doctor 's companion Barbara Wright would be presented today: "an equal to the Doctor, a friend, a mate, a challenge". ( REF : The Writer's Tale ) In the commentary for The End of Time , Russell T Davies stated that Donna's wedding to Shaun Temple takes place in spring 2010 .

In a very crude translation, the name "Donna Noble-Temple" means "Lady Lord (of) Time": Donna is Italian for Lady, Noble means "of noble birth", such as a Lord or a royal, and finally the words Temple andTime (Templum andTempus in Latin) share an origin from Proto-Indo-European. Catherine Tate announced in January 2016 that she would not return to the show as Donna Noble after the departure of Clara Oswald . Donna was dubbed by Kordula Leiße in the German dub of Doctor Who, with the exception of Doomsday , where she was dubbed by Elisabeth Günther . In Italian, she was dubbed by Alessandra Korompay in all but The Runaway Bride , where she was dubbed by Monica Vulcano . In French, she was dubbed by Carole Baillien . Donna later returned twice in 2016, in three audio dramas and a novel. External links Companions of New Who: Donna Noble | Doctor Who TV Companions of New Who: Donna Noble February 21, 2013 Email Guest contributor Mark Spurdle continues his companion retrospective, this time with Donna.

Since Doctor Who’s revival, we have been graced with a number of companions, some gaining high praise from fans, and others not. In my series of articles I will be talking about the key moments for these companions and giving my overall views. Introduction Once again a jaw dropping, hair–raising series had ended, and it also was the end to Martha Jones’ tenure on our screens, battling monsters and saving the day with the Doctor. We were promised a new companion, along with a series that was deemed to be the best series of New Who. To make a series complete you require a companion that can make you laugh, gasp and cry, and we got that through Donna Noble. Of course, Donna Noble didn’t actually make her first appearance in the opener of Series 4 “Partners in Crime”. Oh no! The dastardly clever man known as Russell T Davies had her first appear in the 2006 Christmas special “The Runaway Bride”. Her appearance stunned the Doctor as no-one can just “hop” into the TARDIS! In my opinion Donna wasn’t completely likeable or engaging in this episode. I know Catherine Tate was playing here, but she just acted and portrayed Donna like any other Tate character.

She was mouthy, bad tempered and raised her voice a lot. However, she wasn’t always like this. She showed her humanity and caring nature when she witnessed the Doctor flooding the Racnoss Empress and her children. Without her the Doctor wouldn’t have left the scene, so basically, she saved his life. This warranted her the offer of joining the Doctor in the TARDIS, however much to my surprise (as well as the Doctor’s) she declined, but said that the Doctor needs someone in his life, to slow him down and make him think of the consequences. It seemed Donna Noble would be a one episode character. (So we thought!) What did work? There are so many positive traits regarding Donna. She is regarded among as one of the best New Who companions by many “Who” fans, myself included. To gain such praise and acclaim means she must have had some incredible traits. But what were these traits? For starters, I love a companion that shows passion and humanity, and Donna ticks the box for me as she shows so much in Series 4.

I look back on episodes such as “The Fires of Pompeii”, the compassion and emotion she possessed when she realised she simply could not save those around her in Pompeii due to fixed time, showed us all that she was a great addition to the TARDIS and also showed us that Catherine Tate CAN (yes, can!) act in serious roles and isn’t a one dimensional comedienne. Donna showcased all again in another emotional and tear jerking episode. I’m talking about the episode “Planet of the Ood”. Slavery is naturally a horrific topic and seeing it happen to the Ood in the way it did shocked not only me, but Donna. She showed great determination to try and free the Ood which warmed my heart, and made her go down in my good books. Furthermore the “Doctor Donna!” is another piece of brilliance from Mr. Davies and it is a rather interesting idea. A half Doctor, half Donna sounds absurd at the time. But it’s actually “Brilliant!”. The Doctor’s intelligence and Donna’s spark creates something amazing and something we’ve never seen before. Donna defeated the Daleks with such ease, it was as if she just flicked a switch…..oh wait, she did!

Even though this ending annoys me quite a bit (I mean come on, it’s the Daleks! They can’t be defeated by just flipping a switch!), I’m still pleased to see Donna save the day, showing to everyone that she is important. Of course, all good things must come to an end, and Donna’s came in such a horrible way. Russell T Davies really is a genius when it comes to making viewers of Doctor Who emotionally attached to his characters, and me, like many other Whovians were certainly attached to Donna. It was utterly heart-breaking to see Donna so happy, so exhilarated when she was the Doctor Donna. She was on top of the world; she was finally equal to the Doctor (if not better) and was finally starting to feel better about herself. But her world came crashing down, the Doctor Donna was impossible, it would kill her, her mind could not contain such information and power. My heart could not contain such heart-breaking moments such as when the Doctor had to wipe poor Donna’s mind, meaning she would forget him, the TARDIS and everything she had done and everything she had saved. This….was the first time I had cried at Doctor Who. What didn’t work?

For me, the poor points of our fiery mouthed Donna were of course, her loud and unnecessary shouting. Now, I don’t begrudge a companion shouting “DOCTOR!” when in trouble, but shouting and saying things like “OI!” all the time got on my nerves quite a bit. It wasn’t needed and made our beloved companions seem like some foul mouthed creature. However, she rarely did this in Series 4, unlike her debut episode “The Runaway Bride”. The End of Time Donna, unlike Rose, Sarah Jane and Martha was the only former companion to not make a cameo in Tennant’s swansong. Instead she played a significant part in the episode. Donna purchased a book on Joshua Naismith, due to the Doctor Donna. Of course, Donna being oblivious to her former state purchased it because it felt right and it made her think of Wilf. Her mind was burning up and she was close to death due to remembering her time with the Doctor and the TARDIS (due to the Master changing every human into himself). When I saw Donna’s discomfort and pain I feared she would actually die, of course she didn’t and she went too “sleep”.

When she woke up to the noise of the TARDIS she uttered one of my favourite Donna quotes: “Have I missed something…again?!” Furthermore I thought Donna would never be seen again, however, I was wrong! The Doctor, visiting his old companions before he “died” decided to pay Donna a visit, well, not actually a visit, but he did turn up on her wedding day. Stood in the shadows he presented Wilf and Sylvia a present, a lottery ticket which was the winning one. Seeing Donna’s joy as she finally married was heart-warming and made my day complete. In conclusion Donna Noble on the whole was one of those classic companions that developed quickly to great success. She possessed that caring nature which showed in Series 4. She was a determined character and never afraid to tell the Doctor when she disagreed with his view and say he was wrong. Donna’s exit was heart-breaking, but her return made me delighted and her closing episode “The End of Time” made her story and character complete. Catherine Tate was a phenomenal actor regarding Donna and really showed us that she could be serious and surprised me and many others.

Overall, Donna and Catherine Tate were a breath of fresh air and made Series 4 a great series. Other articles in this series:

Question: Who played the Doctor Who companion Donna Noble??
Answer: Catherine Tate